Stabler Arena
Bethlehem, PA
November 3, 2002
While the stars of Raw were galivanting around Canada, the stars of Smackdown were booked on a tour of Pennsylvania. On television, Smackdown was number one in the world with incredible talent and great matches going on every week. The house shows may not have been drawing very well but the action must have been great. Let's see what this one had to offer.
Match 1
Albert vs Rikishi in a Kiss My Ass match
Poor Albert. He had been booked in these kind of matches with Rikishi for months and ended up taking the stink face every time. Rikishi once admitted in a shoot interview that he had two separate pairs of tights. One he'd wear against guys he was friends with or just happened to be working with that he'd wash out of respect, and a different pair he'd reserve for someone he didn't like or Vince wanted punished. I'm hoping Albert got the washed ones because Rikishi won the match with a superkick and gave him the stinkface after.
Winner: Rikishi by pinfall.
Match 2
Sean O'Haire and Shelton Benjamin vs Bull Buchanan and Doug Basham
Its an OVW showcase match as top prospects Shelton Benjamin and Doug Basham were paired with WCW veteran Sean O'Haire and WWE vet Buchanan in a rematch from yesterday's show. This time Basham and Buchanan takes it when Basham pinned Benjamin.
Winners: Basham & Buchanan by pinfall
Match 3
Val Venis vs Nathan Jones
Another rematch from yesterday with the 6'11 behemoth taking on the veteran Val Venis. Nathan won it with a full nelson slam.
Winner: Jones by pinfall
Match 4
Billy Kidman and Torrie Wilson vs John Cena and Dawn Marie
Real life husband and wife Kidman and Torrie once again face the team of Cena and Dawn. Knowing what's to come for Cena makes this even funnier. Luckily his performance on Halloween Smackdown had him destined for better things. Unfortunately for him, Kidman takes it with a shooting star press.
Winners: Kidman and Wilson by pinfall
Match 5
Big Show vs Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship
As mentioned yesterday, before the internet got advanced and smart phones were invented, WWE would have main event matches on the house show circuit as previews for their big ppv matches. The only ones who saw them were the people there live so they didn't have to worry about anything spoiled on TV. Lesnar retained the title with an inside cradle.
Winner: Lesnar by pinfall (still WWE Champion)
Match 6
D'Von Dudley and Ron Simmons vs Chuck Palumbo and Sho Funaki
Yet another rematch from yesterday where Smackdown was trying to establish a tag team of Simmons and Dudley against the makeshift team of Palumbo and Funaki. Why WWE didn't want Palumbo and O'Haire together like in WCW I'll never know. Unlike yesterday, D'Von got the pin on Funaki.
Winners: Dudley and Simmons by pinfall
Match 7
Crash Holly vs Tajiri vs Jamie Noble for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship in a 3 Way Dance
If you're not familiar with ECW. They had 3 way matches but elimination style known as 3 Way Dance. WWE incorporated triple threat matches in 1998 and this one is elimination style. Noble took Crash Holly out with a Tiger Bomb and hooked the tights on Tajiri on a pin attempt to keep his title.
Winner: Noble by pinfall
Match 8
Chris Benoit vs Matt Hardy
Kurt Angle had the night off apparently as one half of the tag champs, Benoit gets his hand on V1 Matt Hardy. Benoit countered the Twist of Fate with the crippler crossface to win the match.
Winner: Benoit by submission
Match 9
Los Guerreros (Eddie and Chavo) vs Edge and Rey Mysterio Jr
Just like yesterday, the main event would be arguably the best match of the night. Edge & Mysterio had developed good chemistry together and of course the Guerreros had been together since childhood. Mysterio got the duke when he took out Chavo with the West Coast Pop.
Winners: Edge and Mysterio by pinfall
Pretty much the same show from yesterday which was common on the house show circuit leading up to a ppv. Lesnar vs Big Show was clearly going to be the main event of Survivor Series (Smackdown side anyway) so they had them work together here to get the bugs out. Nathan Jones was going to be Smackdown's answer to Batista so they had him start out strong. All in all it was a solid card for a solid group that was putting on great shows together. The next show after this would be Sunday Night Heat so I'll see you there.
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